Not again....

Alright, so I was hoping we wouldn't get into this so soon, but we need to talk a little bit about the purpose of roads and who should have rights to their use. Roads are funded by government taxes collected from all tax paying citizens. So shouldn't each of those citizens have equal right to use the road? Or must you drive only personal cars on their surfaces? What about industrial/commercial uses? What about bikes?
In Michigan, state law has granted bicycles a [semi-] equal legal right to the road as a means of transportation. (I'll write more on legal equality later.) However, I am not convinced that this equality is a shared viewpoint all across Michigan. Sure, nearly 10 million people can't all be of one mind, but if a law is in existence it should be at least be acknowledged by all, regardless of their viewpoint on the issue.

Let's cut to the chase. Here's where today's rant is sourced:

 This yard brush is practically on top of the bike lane dedication paint! 

AND it's in front of/below the bike lane sign!!

Look, leaves are fun to jump in and all, but when they are piled up in such a way that they hinder the safety of my commute, I'm no longer jumping with joy. This example of bike lane obstruction is only one of many many many instances in this city, but this one stands out to me because of the blatant ignorance of the existence of the lane.

Another example:

If bicyclists truly have equal right to the road, the blockage of bike lanes would not be acceptable. In the case of cars, if there is ever an obstruction in the road (i.e. downed tree, snow, etc.) there's a crew working almost immediately to remove it. Why isn't this the case for bike lanes? Are there simply not enough bikers to report the obstruction? Or is bike lane maintenance not a priority to the city?

Now, I see some misunderstanding in this picture likely stemming from one of two places; first, the homeowner. The person who placed this yard waste here could have been mistaken about the purpose of the bike lane and/or their direct affect on the lane, or they could have been mistaken about when the city was scheduled to pick up the waste, or they just don't care. Otherwise, the problem could be the city who could either be slacking on their pickup or don't put enough funding toward maintaining the bike lanes in the first place. Either way, these obstructions (usually piles of leaves) in the bike lane require cyclists to swing out into the motorized vehicle traffic to avoid plowing into the obstruction, however, the exact action of dodging the obstruction puts both the cyclist and drivers at risk of an accident.

In an attempt to solve the problem, I am contacting the Kalamazoo Transportation Service Center to see what can be done about removing the brush, but due to the holiday weekend, I have not yet been successful. I'll keep you updated. (Feel free to try yourself!  (269) 375-8900)

On a lighter note, I have arranged our first few interviews with other "TraVeloers"! Stay tuned for more! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Happy TraVeloing!